Angel's
Can Fly is a textbook for a fast changing art
form, which can now be found in the drama
departments of over 200 Australian, New Zealand
and American secondary
schools and is a prescribed text in some US and UK
universities. Buy the paperback from Amazon.

Angel's
Can Fly has been released as an eBook for the
Kindle Reader,
Apple iPad and the Kobo Reader.

The Kindle
version is available for all mobile devices
including the Blackberry, iPhone, iPad and
Android phones, as well as for the Mac and PCs.
The Kindle edition is US$9.99 from
Amazon.

The iPad
version is US$9.99 and can be purchased through the iBooks app at iTunes. The
eBook can also be purchased for the Kobo reader in New Zealand
through Whitcoulls
(NZ$10.95)or in Australia through
Borders
(AUS$9.95)
or Angus & Robertson.

Here is the review
from Mask - the Journal of Drama Victoria,
Autumn/Winter 2009 by Christina Kyriakou

"Angels Can Fly
comes with a warning, 'Clown exercises are not for
everybody.' Author Alan Clay is quick to explain
that in order to engage in the 'experiences' within
the text one must be prepared to 'let go of the
self'. In truth Angels can fly is not simply a
textbook filled with activities from cover to end.
As Clay explains, 'You may see it as a novel on the
human condition, a clown textbook, a philosophical
treatise, or a memoir or oral history.' (p.11). He
encourages readers to take from the text what they
need and
to 'make the text your own'.

Motivated by the
belief that clown is an art form to be found in
'every culture on the planet' Clay has created a
text that outlines the growth of the modern clown by
blending practice with theory. His text is divided
into 50 chapters, each beginning with an explanation
of the particular theme whether this be, 'Bliss',
'Breath', 'Laughter' or 'Faith'. In fact, from a
quick scan of such titles you could be forgiven for
thinking that this is a self-help book - you would
not be too wrong:

By the
sacrifice of releasing the self, we gain the
ability to see the forest rather than the
trees, because we get in the way of
ourselves.

You have to let go of yourself,
so you can be part of the world that the
people around us are creating. (p.209)

It is the blend
of philosophy with instruction that makes this text
unique in its approach to the clown art form. Each
chapter includes exercises (which increase in
complexity as the text progresses) and additional
coaching tips which define the activity ad explain
the learning process at work. Within each chapter
Clay has imbedded an anecdote from notable clown
practitioners, including Clay himself. These
insights into the clown world are fascinating and if
nothing else, reveal how this art form transcends
boundaries of class and culture. As Clay highlights
his own artistic journey since leaving Clown School
in Sweden in 1977, the reader is privileged to be
privy to his experiences such as having an audience
with the Dalai lama in a Tibetan Children's Village
in 1995.

Interweaving
through the exercises and anecdotes are fictional
short stories introducing characters such as Sugar,
TC, Madona, Easy and Jasper. Readers can follow the
adventures of these clowns and through their antics,
can learn about the nature of clowning.

Angels Can Fly
is Alan Clay's fourth book. A clearly experienced
practitioner, Clay offers a through exploration of
the
clown art form for those who are willing to
'surrender' themselves to all it has to offer."

The
book is now
available through bookshops in New Zealand,
Australia, America, Canada and England, and also
through online
stores likeAmazon.

Also check out Alan Clay's
short clown film,
,
staring Annette Devick from Canada
and Mark Hudson from Australia
which was
shot in New Zealand in October
2006.

And also the new comming of age
romantic comedy,
Courting Chaos, shot in Los
Angeles in 2013, in which a Beverly
Hills girl falls for a Venice Beach
street clown named Chaos and she
must overcome her inhibitions and
become a clown herself for the
relationship to survive.

"Clown is a
fascinating, diverse, complex and exciting art form,
which has existed around the planet for thousands of
years.

"Like any art form it
has to evolve to stay relevant to the culture
nurturing it, and at the same time, and by its very
nature, clown teases and turns upside down the
cultural patterns and boundaries around us.

"Angels Can Fly is an
attempt to chart the growth of modern clown, and to
promote that process by providing, not only
practical exercises for individuals and groups, but
also reference points for thinking.

"The book includes a mix
of fiction which follows the adventures of ten clown
characters, some personal clown anecdotes from
clowns from around the world, a total of 50
practical clown exercises, and some theory on the
nature of modern clown."

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